The bottom neck of the double neck was not looking good, the strings were a mile off the frets and it really looked like something had gone wrong. So off came the neck, a shim went into the pocket and the neck went back on with new strings. And now it's absolutely perfect. It plays nicely, sounds really, really good and just needs a bit of intonation. Amazing.
The top neck still needs a new set of flatwounds. The only ones I had spare were missing the G-string and are horrible, really tight and not smooth. A new set is on order.
The Kent Armstrong Hot Vintage P pickups were quite cheap as pickups go, but they really sound good. Very good sound from both necks, which is great. Also, they came with ridiculously long wires so I didn't have to extend the wires from the upper one, so that made life easier.
I've ordered a pair of knobs for it which are more in keeping with the Precision Bass styling, but other than that, it's basically done now. Aginst all the odds, the damn thing actually works. It's playable, sounds good, looks good and is hopefully quite unique. I might strip the finish from the lower headstock so they match better but that's not really essential.
I have a feeling though that the finish is quite soft and won't take much abuse. But that's not really a problem, if it picks up marks from being used it gives it some credibility. After all Fender sells a range of basses which come with wear from the factory for more money, and I've already written about the Jaco Pastorius tribute bass which comes with a ridiculous amount of wear.
Hurrah.
Monday 22 March 2010
Sunday 21 March 2010
Another geeky day
It's been a rather geeky day to be honest. Spent the morning doing some work on a couple of my laptops.
The Toughbook CF-18 was treated to a new 160gb hard drive which is faster and quieter. The D630 was pulled apart and checked over to see why it blue screens occasionally. Put new thermal gunk on the CPU and chipset and will see how it goes. It's not the RAM as I put the DIMMs into another machine and that one has no issues with them. The old but nice D800 was stripped down and had thermal gunk applied to the processor before it was reassembled with a new keyboard and set up with a fresh install of Ubuntu 9.10 on the 40gb hard drive out of the Toughbook. It now has a German language operating system and keyboard, which is proving interesting. One side effect is that every single word I write in English is highlighted as a spelling error...
While doing all this, watched some classic 80's movies - The Fly, Wargames and Robocop.
In the evening, put the doubleneck back together as the paint was dry. It went back OK and the new pickups sound good. It does however need new strings and a good setup, but so far it looks quite promising. Unfortunately there's an area on the end of the body where I managed to not get any paint. It's not too visible but is still really annoying.
The Toughbook CF-18 was treated to a new 160gb hard drive which is faster and quieter. The D630 was pulled apart and checked over to see why it blue screens occasionally. Put new thermal gunk on the CPU and chipset and will see how it goes. It's not the RAM as I put the DIMMs into another machine and that one has no issues with them. The old but nice D800 was stripped down and had thermal gunk applied to the processor before it was reassembled with a new keyboard and set up with a fresh install of Ubuntu 9.10 on the 40gb hard drive out of the Toughbook. It now has a German language operating system and keyboard, which is proving interesting. One side effect is that every single word I write in English is highlighted as a spelling error...
While doing all this, watched some classic 80's movies - The Fly, Wargames and Robocop.
In the evening, put the doubleneck back together as the paint was dry. It went back OK and the new pickups sound good. It does however need new strings and a good setup, but so far it looks quite promising. Unfortunately there's an area on the end of the body where I managed to not get any paint. It's not too visible but is still really annoying.
Saturday 20 March 2010
A full day
The rest of the week in work was very meh. The wall has dried out and looks great, which is awesome. Took a load of crap to the tip as well.
Did some overtime today, basically just patching in some data connections for PCs that had moved into my floor of the building. After that it was off to Rob's for the rest of the day for rugby. It was a fun day, enlivened by snacks and various things, and recovering a CD I had found from ten years ago which turned out to be a compilation with a lot of tracks that I'd given up for lost. It barely played in the car, but a CD drive was able to rip the tracks perfectly. It's an interesting snapshot of when my life was very different.
Up to Night Watch in the Discworld reread. Can't remember much about this one, so it's new again.
Did some overtime today, basically just patching in some data connections for PCs that had moved into my floor of the building. After that it was off to Rob's for the rest of the day for rugby. It was a fun day, enlivened by snacks and various things, and recovering a CD I had found from ten years ago which turned out to be a compilation with a lot of tracks that I'd given up for lost. It barely played in the car, but a CD drive was able to rip the tracks perfectly. It's an interesting snapshot of when my life was very different.
Up to Night Watch in the Discworld reread. Can't remember much about this one, so it's new again.
Tuesday 16 March 2010
Wall painted
Finally painted the wall and it went OK, much easier than I thought. I borrowed a paint roller on a long handle from a guy in work and it made all the difference. I was able to do almost the whole thing with that and then a small foam pad thing to touch up the rest. So now the room is blue with one pale yellow wall and part of the roof, and it looks OK. So now I just need to wait for it to dry and then I can start putting stuff back in and then start sorting out the other end of the room.
Friday 12 March 2010
Nurrrrrgh
I am glad I have a job, and grateful that I have a consistent, regular salary. But sometimes, I really do despair at some things that go on.
It's been a conflicted week. I've exercised well, and feel all the better for it, but at the same time, have not eaten particularly well. Well, OK, I've eaten like shit. Next week, I'll try to keep up the exercise and eat well too. Oddly though, the skin on my face is near perfect at the moment, which kind of rules out stress after this week, and I don't think I've avoided any particular food.
The new Kent Armstrong pickups have turned up for the double neck, which is exciting, but it's still not properly dry. It'll be a while yet I think. I need to sort out the room first as the plaster is pretty much dry and so I just need to start painting the wall and then perhaps get back to some semblance of normality.
Car tax due this month, completely forgot about it until the letter came. Arse. Got some new stickers for the holes in the back bumper, two Welsh flags. Managed to put them on OK although there's a couple of wrinkles, but they look good. Also because I had to clean the bumper where they went, ended up cleaning the whole car. Took the crappy hubcaps off because they look shit and got in the way of the valves. I've always preferred bare steel wheels if I can't have alloys.
Going to badminton tonight and then it's off to Kirkham tomorrow to see my cousin.
It's been a conflicted week. I've exercised well, and feel all the better for it, but at the same time, have not eaten particularly well. Well, OK, I've eaten like shit. Next week, I'll try to keep up the exercise and eat well too. Oddly though, the skin on my face is near perfect at the moment, which kind of rules out stress after this week, and I don't think I've avoided any particular food.
The new Kent Armstrong pickups have turned up for the double neck, which is exciting, but it's still not properly dry. It'll be a while yet I think. I need to sort out the room first as the plaster is pretty much dry and so I just need to start painting the wall and then perhaps get back to some semblance of normality.
Car tax due this month, completely forgot about it until the letter came. Arse. Got some new stickers for the holes in the back bumper, two Welsh flags. Managed to put them on OK although there's a couple of wrinkles, but they look good. Also because I had to clean the bumper where they went, ended up cleaning the whole car. Took the crappy hubcaps off because they look shit and got in the way of the valves. I've always preferred bare steel wheels if I can't have alloys.
Going to badminton tonight and then it's off to Kirkham tomorrow to see my cousin.
Wednesday 10 March 2010
Blaaaargh
Had two bad days in work again, ended today in a rage and exited the building in a glorious tantrum of slammed doors although felt rather ridiculous afterward when I calmed down again.
Went to the gym yesterday evening and did a good workout, felt great after and slept really well. Went again today though didn't do everything but still feel good.
I saw a bonkers deal on Italia bass necks on Ebay where they were selling off spare parts so ended up with four of them. Italia makes modern versions of the somewhat tackily styled basses and guitars that were so common in the 60s. Two of the necks are quite normal ones that look fairly similar to a normal Fender type neck. One of those can go on the paint experiment bass body. The other two necks are a bit more weird with two-a-side headstocks and a pearloid finish. I'm planning on putting these on the next double neck although one will have to be properly defretted, and it will be interesting painting it. Still working out the design and not sure where to get the wood from.
Not much else to report, bunged some more stuff on Ebay.
Went to the gym yesterday evening and did a good workout, felt great after and slept really well. Went again today though didn't do everything but still feel good.
I saw a bonkers deal on Italia bass necks on Ebay where they were selling off spare parts so ended up with four of them. Italia makes modern versions of the somewhat tackily styled basses and guitars that were so common in the 60s. Two of the necks are quite normal ones that look fairly similar to a normal Fender type neck. One of those can go on the paint experiment bass body. The other two necks are a bit more weird with two-a-side headstocks and a pearloid finish. I'm planning on putting these on the next double neck although one will have to be properly defretted, and it will be interesting painting it. Still working out the design and not sure where to get the wood from.
Not much else to report, bunged some more stuff on Ebay.
Monday 8 March 2010
Weather lovely but cold
Yesterday was a great day. Went out to do some caching in the morning as it was the perfect weather for it with a perfectly clear sky. Miscalculated the time though so I only picked up a couple before heading to Rob and Em's for D&D.
The D&D session with Steve and Kara was awesome. This time it was set outside using hand drawn maps and it worked so well. We played for four and a half hours but it really didn't feel like it. We also ate vast amount of crisps, dip, and chocolate and then a pizza.
Today has also been an epic fail - supposed to be a gym night but went caching with someone from work and remembered I had to get chips for my Mum after she had an eye appointment, and went slightly overboard. So I feel really guilty right now.
In other news, used the funds from recent Ebay sales and ordered the pickups for the double neck, Kent Armstrong Hot Vintage Precision style ones, which should be nice. Will definitely need some new strings for it. The fretted neck will have my favourite Ernie Ball Super Slinkys but the fretless neck will need flatwounds and I'm never quite sure what to get when it comes to those.
The D&D session with Steve and Kara was awesome. This time it was set outside using hand drawn maps and it worked so well. We played for four and a half hours but it really didn't feel like it. We also ate vast amount of crisps, dip, and chocolate and then a pizza.
Today has also been an epic fail - supposed to be a gym night but went caching with someone from work and remembered I had to get chips for my Mum after she had an eye appointment, and went slightly overboard. So I feel really guilty right now.
In other news, used the funds from recent Ebay sales and ordered the pickups for the double neck, Kent Armstrong Hot Vintage Precision style ones, which should be nice. Will definitely need some new strings for it. The fretted neck will have my favourite Ernie Ball Super Slinkys but the fretless neck will need flatwounds and I'm never quite sure what to get when it comes to those.
Saturday 6 March 2010
I have a new relative (nearly)
The week in work was possibly the most annoying and miserable I have ever had in this job and if next week is anything like it, I'm going to take a flexi day. I've got enough now for nearly two days.
Today was interesting, went to Derby with my Mum to see her brother. I won't lie, I find him and his family a bit tiresome because he's a minister and they are all devout Christians, and he's also a bit...well, weird. Anyway, the reason we were going was to meet a guy who it is almost certain is my Mum and her brother's cousin. He's 70 now and decided to try and find out the details of his birth family and quite quickly came across people where he was born who put him in touch with my family.
It's a bit murky but he seems to be the illegitimate child of their uncle, born in Ireland in 1940. He was taken away from his mother by the nuns and then fostered by someone who relocated to England. He's lived in London ever since. The records aren't great back then though and the nuns wouldn't tell him his father's name over the phone as there's a lot of issues about this, so he has to go and see them in person in June and have counselling and everything. It does seem very likely though. He's got some resemblance to members of my Mum's family and seems to have inherited the trait for practicality and handiness that seems to have been a characteristic of them. So I (almost certainly) have a new 2nd cousin, who seems like a nice guy and has the thickest cockney accent I've ever heard.
Fun times. Tomorrow it's a change of scene as it's off to Rob and Em for the long awaited second session of D&D.
Acorn experiments continue, the Risc PC is now running RISC OS 4 with a 206mhz StrongARM CPU (which I paid £1 for about 10 years ago) and a 20gb hard drive. It's pretty cool, just need to get some stuff sorted out. Also was able to take an image of the Risc PC hard drive with all my old A310 stuff and connect it to an emulator on the PC, so that was really cool.
Doubleneck still drying nicely. Managed to flog some more things on Ebay so might be able to get the pickups and strings earlier than I thought.
Today was interesting, went to Derby with my Mum to see her brother. I won't lie, I find him and his family a bit tiresome because he's a minister and they are all devout Christians, and he's also a bit...well, weird. Anyway, the reason we were going was to meet a guy who it is almost certain is my Mum and her brother's cousin. He's 70 now and decided to try and find out the details of his birth family and quite quickly came across people where he was born who put him in touch with my family.
It's a bit murky but he seems to be the illegitimate child of their uncle, born in Ireland in 1940. He was taken away from his mother by the nuns and then fostered by someone who relocated to England. He's lived in London ever since. The records aren't great back then though and the nuns wouldn't tell him his father's name over the phone as there's a lot of issues about this, so he has to go and see them in person in June and have counselling and everything. It does seem very likely though. He's got some resemblance to members of my Mum's family and seems to have inherited the trait for practicality and handiness that seems to have been a characteristic of them. So I (almost certainly) have a new 2nd cousin, who seems like a nice guy and has the thickest cockney accent I've ever heard.
Fun times. Tomorrow it's a change of scene as it's off to Rob and Em for the long awaited second session of D&D.
Acorn experiments continue, the Risc PC is now running RISC OS 4 with a 206mhz StrongARM CPU (which I paid £1 for about 10 years ago) and a 20gb hard drive. It's pretty cool, just need to get some stuff sorted out. Also was able to take an image of the Risc PC hard drive with all my old A310 stuff and connect it to an emulator on the PC, so that was really cool.
Doubleneck still drying nicely. Managed to flog some more things on Ebay so might be able to get the pickups and strings earlier than I thought.
Wednesday 3 March 2010
Horrific day
Work even worse. Had enough. Ate like shit also.
Had a great geeky evening though. Dug out my Acorn Risc PC that I got for a fiver at a car boot and fired it up to find it will works fine. Great machines, amazingly expandable and RISC OS still feels quite snappy and cool, although very quirky now.
The best thing I managed to do was extract the IDE interface out of my Archimedes 310 and attach it's 105mb hard drive to the Risc PC and transfer the contents to the 510mb drive in the Risc PC. The reason for that was that while the 310 still probably works, I don't have a monitor cable for it. The Risc PC let me view the contents of the 310 drive and there's so much stuff on there I'd forgotten about, a real nostalgic look back. RISC OS is still being developed amazingly, up to version 5.2 or something now, still running on ARM processors and based in ROM. It's so weird to think that the 8mhz ARM2 in my old 310 is the direct ancestor of all the ARM processors used in mobile phones and other devices.
Had a great geeky evening though. Dug out my Acorn Risc PC that I got for a fiver at a car boot and fired it up to find it will works fine. Great machines, amazingly expandable and RISC OS still feels quite snappy and cool, although very quirky now.
The best thing I managed to do was extract the IDE interface out of my Archimedes 310 and attach it's 105mb hard drive to the Risc PC and transfer the contents to the 510mb drive in the Risc PC. The reason for that was that while the 310 still probably works, I don't have a monitor cable for it. The Risc PC let me view the contents of the 310 drive and there's so much stuff on there I'd forgotten about, a real nostalgic look back. RISC OS is still being developed amazingly, up to version 5.2 or something now, still running on ARM processors and based in ROM. It's so weird to think that the 8mhz ARM2 in my old 310 is the direct ancestor of all the ARM processors used in mobile phones and other devices.
Tuesday 2 March 2010
AAARGH
Week not improving.
Took the dog for a walk which was great and calmed me down after work. Met a guy who has the cutest puppy you can imagine, some sort of terrier, and he was really funny with Sandy. It's OK though as Sandy is surprisingly good with little dogs and always seems to know to be gentle with them.
The doubleneck clearcoat is drying nicely. It seems to have come out better than the first body although there is a run on the top horn. Not too bad though and it might be able to polish it out once it's dried properly.
Watched Terminator Salvation, not a particularly good film. Thought the effects and actions scenes were OK though. They did an interesting job on bringing back Arnie for the T-800 even if it was a bit creepy.
Took the dog for a walk which was great and calmed me down after work. Met a guy who has the cutest puppy you can imagine, some sort of terrier, and he was really funny with Sandy. It's OK though as Sandy is surprisingly good with little dogs and always seems to know to be gentle with them.
The doubleneck clearcoat is drying nicely. It seems to have come out better than the first body although there is a run on the top horn. Not too bad though and it might be able to polish it out once it's dried properly.
Watched Terminator Salvation, not a particularly good film. Thought the effects and actions scenes were OK though. They did an interesting job on bringing back Arnie for the T-800 even if it was a bit creepy.
Monday 1 March 2010
Argh, work
Had an appalling day in work, just argh all round.
Found the paint had dried on the doubleneck so putting the clear coat on now. Looks exactly the same as the previous body so that's good. Can't wait to put it all back together although if I'm going to splurge on new pickups and strings that'll definitely have to wait until payday unless I have another flukey sale on Ebay.
Since the paint worked out well, it's made me think about refinishing my Squier Jazz, as I don't particularly like the sunburst finish and the body isn't made of particularly nice pieces of wood. Also because it lacks a scratchplate, it would look pretty good in that chameleon paint. It plays so nicely though I don't want to take it apart.
Found the paint had dried on the doubleneck so putting the clear coat on now. Looks exactly the same as the previous body so that's good. Can't wait to put it all back together although if I'm going to splurge on new pickups and strings that'll definitely have to wait until payday unless I have another flukey sale on Ebay.
Since the paint worked out well, it's made me think about refinishing my Squier Jazz, as I don't particularly like the sunburst finish and the body isn't made of particularly nice pieces of wood. Also because it lacks a scratchplate, it would look pretty good in that chameleon paint. It plays so nicely though I don't want to take it apart.
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